I am upgrading to a 90 gallon soon and the tank will be going in the exact same place as the old tank.
Does anyone have any advice on how to move the existing tank out of the way so I can get the new one in place before transferring livestock?
I am thinking I will need a 3rd tank just to hold all of the livestock while I move the old tank out of the way (once empty).
Naw - This isn’t that bad.
This is what I did when I upgraded from a 75 to a 90:
1.) Have everything ready to go - whatever you can think of, just make sure if you need it, you have it ready.
2.) Disconnect everything from the existing tank.
3.) Fill as many 5 gallon buckets with the existing water (or a large trash can / container) - this isn’t for saving the water - it’s for moving corals and rock and for moving fish.
4.) Drain the existing tank at least halfway.
5.) You and someone else can easily (and very carefully) move the existing tank to where-ever you want it.
6.) Re-fill the tank and add your stuff back in there.
I’ve done this twice - the 1st time was a 37 gallon to a 75, then the 75 to the 90.
I didn’t lose anything - everything was really upset for a few days but they were all fine. Once the new tank cycles - SLOWLY start to add your livestock back to the new tank over the course of a week or two.
If you don’t want or have the 5 gallon buckets, I have used the storage containers that can be found at almost every home improvement store. I used two 30 gallon size, and then kept them to use for water changes.
I upgraded my 55 to a 90 about 6 mos ago. The new tank was going back in the same place as the existing tank. I drained the water into containers, and added the fish/corals to the containers with a a heater and an air stone. I then set up the new tank added all my existing water to the new tank. Finished filling it up with new RO water than acclimated my livestock into the new tank. I only lost one damsel.
It was like doing a big water change.